The mother of an Israeli man taken by Hamas on 7 October 2023 says she still does not know if her son is dead or alive, but has real hope that US President Donald Trump's peace plan will bring the return of all the hostages held in Gaza. Herut Nimrodi told BBC News she was fearing the worst for her son Tamir, a non-combat soldier, but she was clinging to hope that he's still hanging on two years after his abduction. She said he was the only Israeli hostage whose family had not been told if they were alive or dead. The peace plan, proposed by President Trump, has been gaining momentum, with indirect talks now under way between Hamas and Israel to end the war and return the hostages.
They have been trying to create an agreement for a while but it didn't take off. This time it feels different, Ms. Nimrodi said. There is real hope that this is the one, this is the last deal. She said it was particularly important that all hostages - living and dead - would be released in the plan's first phase. This is huge, this is a blessing for us, she said. It's urgent to release the hostages - those that are still alive, and even the ones that have passed. We don’t know what state their bodies are in. We have to release them so the families have some kind of closure.
The last time she saw her son was in a video of his abduction posted on social media. My youngest daughter - she was 14 at the time - came screaming that she had seen her brother being abducted on Instagram, she recalled. Since seeing Tamir, an education officer in the military who was 18 at the time of his abduction, she has received no signs of life.
On the two-year anniversary of the abduction, Ms. Nimrodi participated in rallies with other families of hostages, advocating for the peace plan's implementation. As she leads her fight for her son, she carries the burden of hope and the echoes of her son's terrified expression during his kidnapping, stating, To hope for two years - it's absolutely exhausting.\
They have been trying to create an agreement for a while but it didn't take off. This time it feels different, Ms. Nimrodi said. There is real hope that this is the one, this is the last deal. She said it was particularly important that all hostages - living and dead - would be released in the plan's first phase. This is huge, this is a blessing for us, she said. It's urgent to release the hostages - those that are still alive, and even the ones that have passed. We don’t know what state their bodies are in. We have to release them so the families have some kind of closure.
The last time she saw her son was in a video of his abduction posted on social media. My youngest daughter - she was 14 at the time - came screaming that she had seen her brother being abducted on Instagram, she recalled. Since seeing Tamir, an education officer in the military who was 18 at the time of his abduction, she has received no signs of life.
On the two-year anniversary of the abduction, Ms. Nimrodi participated in rallies with other families of hostages, advocating for the peace plan's implementation. As she leads her fight for her son, she carries the burden of hope and the echoes of her son's terrified expression during his kidnapping, stating, To hope for two years - it's absolutely exhausting.\
